Not to do ourselves out of business, but I
do believe that companies could make a step change in their individual, team
and ultimately their organisational performance - and save money from employing
external consultants - by doing one
thing: having dedicated 1:1 conversations with the people they lead, to build
collective understanding and systematically review performance and progress.
And from working with leaders, it seems it
is the one thing they are reluctant to do. Here are three of the most common
responses:
“I see them every
day so we don’t need to have formal 1:1s”. The
informal, spontaneous interactions we have on a daily basis are the glue of
organisational life. However, the danger
is that often conversations can remain at a somewhat superficial level, where
we end up trading facts and opinions, talking nice or talking tough, usually
about the transactional task or project at hand. There is little space to have real dialogue,
to talk strategically about one’s development, motivation, working
relationships and goals.
“I have got so many people, I can’t know them all”. This makes my heart sink. As we
go up the leadership pipeline, what we value and how we spend our time, has to
be people. It is not about knowing each individual
intimately, but given that it is your people that are making things happen,
surely you want some understanding of what makes them tick, why they are
prepared to turn up day after day to work. One
manufacturing director came away from a programme recently with the action to
meet with every individual at his plant.
He had been inspired by Andy Dickson,
Head of Global Solutions at Impact, who in sharing his ideas about creating a
‘Great Place to Work’, talked about the time he had a 1:1 with every member of
his UK team, direct and indirect reports.
Andy revealed how it was a fundamental moment for him in his leadership –
that by doing this simple act, committing to a 30 minute conversation, helped
to build his own understanding of the people and organisation he was leading. It is no surprise to any of us, that we all
want to be listened to – and a conversation that does that will always
transform us.
“Yes, I have 1:1s - at every annual performance review”: We are getting to the end of the year, and
in some organisations, this will mean a performance review, perhaps the first
1:1 for the entire year. Depending on one’s experience, relationship and
view point, we will be dragging our feet or skipping along to it (or something
in between). More often it is the
former, with many 1:1s feeling like you are ‘going through the motions',
undertaking a process that has to be executed – rather than what it really can
offer...the opportunity to step back and reflect deeply on experiences,
learnings and ways forward. We know from
experience that leaders often find it difficult to nurture the time, energy and
discipline to have even biannual or annual review conversations with the people
they lead. The prospect of having 1:1 conversations quarterly, monthly or
fortnightly, is for some, unthinkable. Which quite frankly, is a shame and wasted
opportunity.
There are many reasons why leaders do not
have 1:1s. Besides the obvious one of
time, there are often fears at play – of being overwhelmed, ill-equipped, uncomfortable with the intimacy
or intensity of a person to person conversation, the fear of not being in
control with the unpredictability of actually dropping into a real dialogue.
The reasons are as individual as we are, but there are many reasons why regular
formal conversations alongside the spontaneous and informal, are critical. They are the only real route to creating
engagement, generating ideas, building understanding and releasing
potential. The best thing we can do is
to set the intention to turn up for these conversations, and let the
possibilities unfold.
So here’s a challenge: undertake regular
1:1s with your people, and see what difference they make in performance. And let us know about it.
Notes:
Originally
written for Impact’s “In Good Company” -
https://www.impactinternational.com/blog/2017/10/i-dont-have-time-11
Image: from a dear friend Cathy Teesdale www.cathyteesdale.com
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